The citizens of the peninsula have been given an opportunity to freely express their will and exercise their right to self-determination, the Russian president said in a phone conversation with his US counterpart, according to Kremlin’s press service.

With a record-breaking turnout of over 80 percent, according to preliminary results, over 95 percent of the Crimean population said ‘yes’ to the reunion of the republic with Russia. International observers have not reported any violations or anything resembling any kind of pressure during the vote.

However, the Unites States and the “international community” will not recognise the results of the referendum “administered under threats of violence and intimidation,” the White House spokesman said as cited by Reuters.

Despite the existing differences in the assessment of the situation in Ukraine, the leaders of Russia and US have agreed that they must jointly seek to help stabilize the situation in the country, the Kremlin said.

“Putin drew attention to the inability and unwillingness of the current Kiev authorities to curb rampant ultra-nationalist and radical groups, destabilizing and terrorizing civilians, including Russian-speaking population, and our fellow citizens,” Kremlin statement reads.

In this context, the possibility of sending an OSCE monitoring mission to Ukraine was discussed, the press office reported. The Russian President believes such a mission should be extended to all Ukrainian regions.

A woman with her face painted in the colours of the Russian national flag waits for the announcement of preliminary results of today’s referendum on Lenin Square in the Crimean capital of Simferopol March 16, 2014

A referendum in Crimea will say in a week if the region wants more autonomy from Kiev, or if it sees itself a part of Russia. RT’s Paula Slier asked residents of Crimea’s capital whether they want to have the region’s status changed and, if so, why.

Many in the Black Sea peninsula are refusing to recognize the self-proclaimed authorities in Kiev, RT found out. Violent seizure of government buildings and bloodshed on the streets – that’s how Crimeans see recent events in Kiev.

“The government in power is not democratic because they had a revolution in an armed way so that everything it orders is not legal,” Aleksandr Mukharev, a writer told Paula Slier.

As the country remains bitterly divided between the EU-supporting west and pro-Russia east, Crimeans have doubts that people, who have come to power, will represent the interests of both the sides.

One of the first decisions by the new government – to revoke the law on minority languages, which includes Russian, – only contributed to Crimeans’ worries.

“Their mission is not to promote the Ukrainian language as much as suppress the Russian language and everything that is not Ukrainian,” believes Aleksey Vakulenko, a citizen journalist.

97 percent of Crimeans speak Russian. They weren’t happy, when Russian disappeared from government websites and fear that Russian TV channels might soon be banned. There have also been cases of Russian journalists being denied access to the country, something Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed on Saturday.

The news of far right political forces gaining prominence in Kiev is another source of concern for Crimeans. The interim Kiev government has six ministers – including the deputy prime minister, Aleksandr Sych, – from the nationalist Svoboda party.

Reasons for Crimea joining Russia are far from ideological for Lianu Stepanova, a flower seller.

“The prices will be lower and the salaries will be higher,” she believes.

The east and southeast of Ukraine have never quite embraced the partnership deal with the EU, bearing in mind austerity cuts weaker economies there have to implement. Now the West is promising economic aid through the International Monetary Fund. The prospect of Ukrainians having to tighten their belts is ever more real, as the assistance comes under the strictest of conditions.